


Heavy is the Heart

by magicgirlsara



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Bi Dean, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergent, Coming Out, Coming of Age, F/F, Family, First Kiss, Gay, Happy Ending, Hunting, Lesbian, Love Confession, M/M, Magic, Original Character - Freeform, Pining, Romance, Sexuality, Witches, mild violence, queer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2018-11-14 09:16:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11204979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicgirlsara/pseuds/magicgirlsara
Summary: Claire unexpectedly shows up at the bunker leaving Dean, Cas, and Sam to try and figure out what's going on with her. It seems that she's keeping a secret that, for once, isn't life-threatening, but it may end up being heart-wrenching.





	1. Chapter 1

Dean walked behind her, placing an open beer on the table in front of her as he went. He threw himself down and popped open his beer next. He pursed his lips, dimples of disapproval showing.

“So, are you gonna tell me what happened?”

“No,” Claire picked up the bottle and took a hard gulp. Her eyes never left the table.

She was used to this whole interrogation thing. Adult asks questions, she refuses to answer, nobody can ever hold her accountable for what happened. Life was easier this way. She did it with her mom, her grandma, and even with Jody; Dean was no different. He wasn’t even a parental figure. Truthfully, he could barely be considered a “real adult”. His scruff was out of control and patchy, his formerly white t-shirt was stained and greying, and upon closer inspection he didn’t seem to have taken a shower in a few days. He looked like a hell of a mess. It was hard to take him seriously when he looked like this.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked forcefully.

“What’d you mean?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with you? You look like the definition of a depressive episode.”

Dean looked down at himself, scoffing, “Sorry I didn’t put my top hat and tails on for you, princess. Maybe if I had a little warning that you were gonna show up on our doorstep I woulda cleaned up a little.”

Claire looked at the beer in her hand, spun it around on the table a bit, and swallowed hard,

“I don’t wanna talk about it, ok? Can I just crash here for a few days?”

“Does Jody know you’re here?”

“Yeah, I told her I was nearby and was gonna crash here if you were home.”

“Alright, you can take 13, it’s in between mine and Cas’ room, that way we can keep an eye on you. There are rules here. You can’t just take off. You need to let us know if you’re leaving and why. Don’t bring any little boy toys back here, this is not a party house. No visitors, no friends, no one night stands.”

“Wow, you’re so progressive, dad,” Claire rolled her eyes.

“Hey! You came to _me_ and asked _me_ for a favor, here. We live by those rules, too,” he stood up and started heading for the hall, “And clean up after yourself, I don’t wanna be the only one doing all the cleaning around here. Come on, get your stuff.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Left alone to her own devices she started to unpack a few things. She was used to moving around from dirty motel to dirty motel so she never really had a chance to settle in. She figured a few days here would be good for her so she might as well make herself at home. She took her journal out and flipped out a familiar picture. It was a small instant photo, the date was written on the bottom and Alyssa had drawn a sloppy heart next to it. They looked happy in the photo, no fighting, no tears, no yelling. She threw the photo back into the cover of her journal and threw the book on the dresser next to her.

How could she have been so stupid? Some beautiful bartender could never be a part of her life. She was always traveling, always in some supernatural mess. Sure, Alyssa didn’t think she was crazy when she told her she was a hunter, but she wanted normal things, things Claire couldn’t give her. Without hunting, she was aimless, but without Alyssa she was lost. Tears were stinging in the corners of her eyes as she squeezed them shut. An angry huff came out of her as she threw herself back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, tears streamed down her face. Dean’s last words to her echoed in her brain, _you’ll have to face whatever you’re running from at some point, trust me, I know._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some Destiel ya'll.

A deep and ragged breath escaped him as he shot up in bed. He fell asleep with the light on, clutching Cas’ letter in his hand. The dream came to him again, his father was young and teaching him to drive but instead of Sam in the back, Castiel was there. He asked if he could take a turn and suddenly Dean was in the backseat and Cas was driving. His dad was older now and he tried to pull the wheel away from Cas but he wouldn’t let it go. He drove right past their house and Dean, a helpless 16-year-old kid in the backseat, watched as his mom smiled and waved at him from the porch. John wrenched the wheel to the right and they crashed into a row of parked cars. On collision, Dean awoke, sweating and terrified. It wasn’t a big crash, Baby would’ve been fine, it was John that Dean was terrified of. And if he was being honest, Cas’ actions shook him, too.

Dean looked down at Cas’ letter to him, it was badly crumbled where he had gripped it in his terror. He smoothed it down on his nightstand, rubbing his hands stiffly across the words.

_Dean,_

_I am sorry if I have made you uncomfortable. I think I have misread your behaviors. I’m assuming that you would like some space right now. I will be back in 3 days. If you would not like to talk about what transpired between us, I will not bring it up. However, if you would like to, I am more than willing to do that._

_Cas_

For the past 3 nights Dean read this letter over and over. The first night he cried in frustration, the second night he couldn’t sleep, and last night he apparently fell asleep still reading it. His eyes felt puffy and his muscles strained. He thought for sure Cas would be back by now, but he never came into his room last night. Maybe he wasn’t going to start the conversation and it would be up to Dean. Maybe he was in his own room waiting for Dean to come to his senses right now.

This would all be much less awkward if Claire hadn’t shown up last night. When she knocked on the door he thought she was Cas. Nevermind that Cas has his own key. He ripped open the door and there she was, looking like a sad stray. Eyeliner in smudges underneath her eyes, nose red, and refusing to make eye contact. He couldn’t turn her away, she was a good kid and clearly something was wrong.

He didn’t bother calling or texting Cas because he was sure he’d be there any minute, but 3 days seemed to mean that he’d show up the following day. He was afraid of the conversation he’d have to have with Cas about their little moment, but he was almost just as afraid of having to solve a young girl’s problem. What were young women even into anymore? Dean certainly didn’t know. He was the one doing the hurting to women back then. That was exactly what Dean was afraid of; some guy had broken her heart or some monster took her boyfriend. Revenge was something he was familiar with, but he didn’t want that path for Claire. She’d never find what she was looking for, and she’d already been down a similar path before. He thought for sure she’d learned her lesson on the whole revenge thing, so maybe that wasn’t going to be an issue.

Tired of pacing his room and thinking of every possible scenario, Dean walked out into the hallway, he passed Claire’s door but it was closed so it seemed he didn’t have to solve her problems just yet. Cas’ door, however, was open.

He pushed it open all the way, slowly, waiting for an argument to come hurtling at him. But Cas was simply sitting at his desk, writing something. With a guilty pull at his stomach he wondered whether it was another letter to him.

He cleared his throat, “Uh, hey, buddy.”

Cas turned to face him, a serene smile on his face, “Hello, Dean.”

“I, uh, I read your letter,” Dean looked at the floor, unable to make eye contact.

“Did you?” Cas’ tone was unreadable.

“Yeah, uh, listen…” he started, but wasn’t sure where he was going, “Claire is here. She, uh, showed up last night, lookin’ pretty wrecked. She's staying for a few days. She’s in room 13, next door. So, I don’t really know if now’s the time we should be talking about this, ya know?”

Cas squinted his eyes and turned his head to the side, “Did you invite her here just to avoid talking to me, Dean?”

This was a clear accusation and Dean couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason he felt some relief when she showed up.

“No! No, she showed up on her own. What was I supposed to do? Dodge her like she was a Jehovah’s Witness or something?”

“That isn’t what I meant, Dean. I just know how good you are at evading verbalizing your feelings. And what happened between us the other day... Well, it was not something that you have been willing to talk about before.”

“Dammit, Cas, I know that, ok. This is hard for me. But I’m not using Claire to avoid it. I just… I don’t know what to say. I shouldn’t have pushed you away like that. I should’ve explained what was going on in my head. But honestly, _I_ don’t even know what’s going on in my head.”

“Dean… what is it that you want?”

Dean looked up at Cas, “I don’t know. I mean… that kiss. It was… it was exactly what I thought it would be. But, Cas, I don’t know. I don’t wanna hurt you. I’m not the best person to be investing in. You could end up hurt or worse, dead.”

“I’m aware of your lifestyle, Dean. I’m not worried about that. We don’t have to put a ‘label’ on this if that’s what scares you.”

“I’m not scared. I mean, kind of, sort of, I don’t know, man. I don’t know how to date,” he gestured at Cas by waving at various parts of his body, “a dude. And I definitely don’t know how to date an angel of the freakin’ lord.”

“You don’t have to do anything special,” he stepped closer to Dean and grabbed his hand lightly, “I don’t expect anything different from you. I just want to be closer to you.”

Dean bowed his head in silence, unsure of how to respond.

“Cas, I…”

Cas moved his body closer to Dean’s, the fabrics of their clothes were mixing together, their chests barely an inch away from one another. Cas moved his face next to Dean’s, his mouth was angled at his ear, “Dean, I want this. I want you no matter what the cost.”

Dean slid his face along Cas’, feeling their stubble scrape together. Their lips grazed each others, but Dean kept his eyes closed, afraid to look into the striking blue of the very alluring man who was putting his heart on the line for him.

“Dean…” Cas whispered into Dean’s mouth.

“Huh?” he could barely manage to make a sound indicating he’d heard him.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” when he spoke his lips grazed Dean’s with every word.

And for the second time, Dean let it happen. He opened his mouth and let Cas in; and with every shaking breath that was pulled from his lips he knew there was no turning back. He was over the threshold, and as he grabbed at Cas’ waist, tugging at the fabric of his shirt, he knew he couldn’t stop himself ever again.


	3. Chapter 3

Claire cracked her door open, peeking out into the hall. Empty. She tiptoed out and listened for signs that Dean was up and ready to grill her again. Mumbled, hushed voices were coming from inside Cas’ room. She didn’t even know he was home and truthfully she was a little hurt that he didn’t come say hello to her. As she inched closer to his door, her steps were soundless but her breath caught in her mouth when she heard Dean’s voice, loud and clear, “…definitely don’t know how to date a freakin’ angel of the lord.”

“What the hell…” she whispered out loud and quickly clamped her hands over her mouth.

Praying that nobody heard her, she backed away slowly. With her eyes still on the door she didn’t see him lingering behind her until she stepped right onto his foot.

“What are you doing?” Sam put his arms around her shoulders and gently pushed her off his foot, “Wait, when did you get here?”

“Shh! They’ll hear us!” she whispered aggressively at Sam, “I came in last night, needed a place to crash. Dean said it was cool but now I’m starting to feel like I’ve interrupted the family dynamic…”

“Are they fighting again?” Sam gestured at Cas’ door.

“What? No. They fight?”

“Pfft, all the time. It’s always something with them.”

“Well, they’re definitely not fighting…” she turned back to look at the door.

“Oh. Oh? Ohhh… gross. Sorry you had to hear  _ that _ .”

“What?! NO! Nothing like that …yet.”

“What’d you mean?”

“I heard Dean say he didn’t know how to date an angel. Are they dating?”

“Uh, well,” Sam scratched the back of his neck, “that’s kind of complicated.”

“Oh… Ok, well, that makes me feel like just another thing they’ll both have to worry about. Great. Guess I better pack,” she started to walk towards her room.

“Hey, no, you don’t have to do that. You can stay, they’ll be over it by the end of the day, I’m sure,” he looked at Cas’ door in a decidedly unsure way, “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam and Claire walked into the kitchen with coffee and bags of bagels and muffins for everyone but they were definitely not ready for what was waiting for them in kitchen. Sam had said they’d make up, but he had never seen them behave this way, at least not outside of the privacy of their bedrooms.

Dean was looking in the refrigerator and Cas was hugging him from behind, whispering in his ear. Cas bit at Dean’s ear and then they were both giggling together like horny teenagers. Dean grabbed Cas’ face and kissed him aggressively.

Sam cleared his throat.

Cas did nothing more than turn his head to face Sam, but Dean jumped about 15 feet in the air and turned around incredulously, mouth hanging open.

“Sorry to interrupt…” Sam smiled slyly, “We picked up bagels and muffins. Got you the good stuff,” he raised the drink holder filled with coffee cups.

Dean wriggled free of Cas and walked over to the table, throwing himself down, refusing to make eye contact. He mumbled something that sounded like thanks, but who could be sure?

Cas was a little miffed but decided that was an argument for another time as he walked over to hug Claire.

“Claire, Dean told me that you’d be staying with us for a few days. I believe he used the words, ‘pretty wrecked’.”

Dean stared daggers at Cas but Claire only laughed.

“Yeah, I was kind of a mess when I showed up. Not as bad as Dean was though. Looks like you finally showered off the depression, huh?” she eyed Dean as he angrily sipped his coffee.

“I wasn’t depressed,” he mumbled into the cup.

“Uh huh, sure. I always look like that when me and my girlfriend get into a fight. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Dean-o.”

For the first time, Dean looked up at her. Cas took a step back from her, squinted and turned his head to the side, confused, as usual. Sam, who had been busy cutting the bagels and popping them in the toaster turned around to face her, as if that would ensure that what he heard was any truer.

“You--,” Dean coughed out, “Your  _ girlfriend _ ? As in, your  _ girlfriend _ , as in, the woman you date?”

Claire sat opposite him at the table and sighed, “Yeah… I mean, she  _ was  _ my girlfriend. Now she’s just this bartender I used to date.”

“A bartender? Mmm, mistake number one,” Dean took a sip of his coffee.

“It wasn’t her, it was me. She wanted to move in together and get a dog and the whole domestic life thing. I just… hunting has become my life. I don’t know if I could just give it up to settle down in Kansas, ya know? I mean, there’s still evil out there. And… I haven’t even told Jody or Alex,” she stopped there, suddenly aware that she was unloading all of her problems.

Dean set his coffee down and looked straight at her, “Jody and Alex won’t care who you’re dating. You know, as long as it’s not a vengeful vampire.”

Claire smiled, “I mean, I guess Alex has dated worse.”

“Hey, dating women is not worse than dating anybody else. As long as you’re happy, who cares what anybody else thinks?”

Cas walked over to the cabinet to get sugar and Claire took this opportunity to reach across the table and grab Dean’s hand. She whispered so that only he could hear, “You should take your own advice.”

She was staring at Cas as he walked back over. Dean looked at her, unsure of whether he should rip his hand from her and deny his feelings for Cas, or if he should thank her for giving him the permission he needed. 

“Am I interrupting a bonding moment?” Castiel was never subtle.

“Uh, kind of, but it’s fine. Claire here was just telling me that I should stop being so stupid about dating you. And I think she’s right.”

“Does that mean we’re dating now?” Cas couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he asked.

“Yeah, Cas, yeah, I think it does,” he reached over and grabbed Cas’ hand.

“Finally!” Sam shouted as his bagel popped up. “That was in reference to you guys dating, not the bagel,” he clarified with a smug smile.


	4. Chapter 4

All day long Cas and Dean were inseparable; they were kissing on the couch, and in the hallways. They were all over each other in the kitchen and the war room, and when they finally disappeared for a few hours Claire wasn’t sure if it was a relief or if it was kinda gross to know that someone who looked like her father and someone who acted like her father were both getting it on. She was curled up on Sam’s bed watching Game of Thrones while he snored next to her. She was totally lost if she was being honest with herself. Her mind was clearly elsewhere; she kept lighting up her phone and searching for notifications that she knew would never come. Alyssa was clearly so upset with her that she wasn’t going to just text her to say hello. She flung the phone down angrily as Cas came in the room.

“Is everything ok, Claire? You’ve seemed distressed all day,” Cas was whispering so as not to wake up Sam.

Claire scoffed, “I'm surprised you noticed.” Immediately she regretted her tone. The hurt puppy look on Cas’ face clipped at her conscience.

“I, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. I've just noticed that you've been distracted all day and I'm kind of in a bad place right now and I don't have anyone to talk to about it,” her honesty surprised her and she clammed up as soon as she realized what she was saying.

“Claire, you know I'm always available to talk to you,” Cas’ voice carried guilt, “I'm sorry I didn't approach you sooner.”

His statement hung heavy between them for what felt like an eternity. When he looked up into her eyes, she saw that he meant it. She saw openness and welcoming. His eyes that matched hers, his eyes that had once been her father's, her real father, they carried a burden she couldn't identify.

Finally, Cas broke the silence, “What’s going on, Claire?”  
“I… I don't know where to start…”

“From my experience, the beginning is always a good place,” a small, knowing smile crossed his face.

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” she started speaking slowly, almost staggering her words, “I fell in love with this girl,” she looked up at Cas, waiting for a reaction. When he just stared at her with his usual intensity she continued, “Her name is Alyssa. She's a bartender here in Kansas. I met her on a hunt for a ghost that was killing teenagers. I asked her for some info about the last vic and she ended up giving me her number. I texted her the next day and asked when she was free. We got coffee at this cute little shop right by her place. And, I guess it went well cause we ended up back at her place… anyway, that became routine for a while. We were together a lot for about a month and then I got another case. I knew I couldn't just leave without an explanation so I decided to tell her. At first she laughed, thought I was joking around. When I showed her my weapons and stuff she sat with it for a bit and by some miracle, decided I wasn't crazy. I told her about the job, chasing down a ghoul the next state over, and she freaked out. She told me it would be too dangerous and that she couldn't understand why I had to do it. She even tried to go with me but I couldn't let her do that, she's not even trained. So… I didn't go. We fought for a few days but she showed up at my motel room and told me to come stay at her place. She said, ‘We can't throw this away. There's something here and I can't give it up.’ I knew then that she really cared about me. She was really in it with me. But, of course, a month later I got restless again. I caught wind of another case and I told her I was going. I tried to explain how hunting was part of who I am. How my whole life has been building up to this and I just started feeling like I'm doing the right thing, on the right path, and I can't just give it up. But she really wouldn't have it. We spent all night yelling at each other. I mean, yelling; her neighbor's called the cops. We had to awkwardly explain we were fine and we'd stop yelling. In the end though, she looked at me from across the room and told me to go. ‘Go. If you want to risk your life so bad, just go. But don't come back. If you leave, don't come back.’ So… I did. And I haven't even sent a text or a call so she doesn't even know if I'm alive or dead and she hasn't even tried to contact me. Like, at all! For all she knows I could be dead and she doesn't even care.”

“Maybe she's afraid.”

Cas and Claire started at Sam's voice. 

“When did you wake up?” Claire spat out.

“Somewhere around 'I fell in love with this girl,’” a smile played at his lips.

“And what, exactly, would she have to be afraid of?”

Sam paused, “Sometimes, when people are afraid of the answer, they won't even ask the question. She's probably just avoiding it because there's a very real possibility that you could be dead and she probably can't handle it.”

“Sam’s right, sometimes humans would rather live in ignorance. It's strange, but true.”

Claire suspected that Cas had extensive experience with people who denied their feelings. And Sam was always full of insight. The advice was sound, but what was she supposed to do with it? 

Cas seemed to be reading her, “I think you should text her. It'd be good to let her know that you're safe. And maybe you could talk about some kind of compromise.”

“Cas… I don't know if I could do that. Even if I could hunt and still have her in my life that would put her at risk,” Claire clicked the button on the side of her phone lighting it up again.

“Well, if you don't you could be missing out on something amazing” Sam looked at her, hope in his eyes.

She picked up the phone and poked around a bit but before she could press send she stopped.

“Are you guys sure? This doesn't seem desperate? I'm not being selfish by putting her in my shitty, dangerous, hunter life?”

Both Sam and Cas gave her smug, knowing looks.

“Alright, rip the band-aid off, got it,” and with that, she hit send.


	5. Chapter 5

“It’s been 6 hours, Cas, I don’t think she’s gonna text back,” Claire looked at him in frustration. He had been telling her to be patient since she sent the text, but her patience for his optimism was wearing thin.

Cas gave her a reassuring smile, “You could always call her?”

“Thanks, but I’m not that desperate,” she picked up her phone and lit up the screen again. Nothing.

Dean walked into the war room and looked up at the balcony where Cas and Claire were playing chess. He had heard the story of Alyssa by now and could tell she still hadn’t texted back.

“Ay!” He waved up at them, “Food!”

“No thanks,” Claire waved him off dismissively.

“Claire, you should eat something. Humans need to eat,” Cas chided quietly.

Not quietly enough though, Dean piped up from below, “Yeah, Claire, humans need to eat!”

She looked down at his raised eyebrows and excited face, rolling her eyes she yelled back, “Fine! But I want greasy diner food, nothing healthy!”

“What’s wrong with healthy food?!” Sam yelled from the library. Claire and Dean shared a look.

Claire got up to get her jacket from her room and Cas popped down to Dean. He immediately grabbed Dean and kissed him.

“Ergh! Stop with the PDA!” Claire put her hand in her peripheral, blocking them as she jogged by.

“I thought you wouldn't mind, seeing as you're also gay,” Cas stared at her, confused.

“It's not the gay thing, it's the dad thing.” Again, Cas looked confused.

Dean, equally confused, spoke up, “You think of us both as your dad? ...Dads? ...Parents?

“Well, yeah,” Claire looked from one to the other, “I mean, Cas looks like my dad and kinda acts like him and you,” she paused to give Dean the side eye, “definitely act like my parent.”

Dean felt a strange sense of pride and when he looked at Cas he could tell he felt it too. Seeing their faces, Claire rolled her eyes and started to walk away when her phone beeped. She froze. It could be Alyssa. It could be anyone, but it could be her. She opened the text… _help kidnapped witches_

She couldn't speak, she couldn't breathe. Everything was moving in slow motion. Dean was asking her something but she couldn't hear him. It was like a bomb had gone off and deafened her. He grabbed the phone from her and read it.

 

“Claire! CLAIRE!” He shook her shoulders.

A switch flipped in her mind and she grabbed his forearms, “What do I do?” 

“Grab some gear, I gotta make a call. Sam! SAMMY!”

Sam came running over, “What? What happened?”

“How many witch killing bullets do we have?”

“5 maybe?”

“Can you make more? I gotta call The Twins.”

Everybody ran off in different directions, Sam set up Cas making witch killing bullets and Dean was off calling different numbers over and over. Claire was staring at the text in her hand, tears were pooling in her eyes as her stomach dropped further out. Her hands felt slow and and stiff when she texted back, _where are you?_ When Alyssa didn’t respond right away she went to her room and started grabbing her duffel bag. Her mind was racing but her body was moving through molasses. She collapsed on the bed, small sobs falling from her.

Sam came running in, “Claire! I need your pho-- hey, are you alright?” She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face, unable to speak, she knew that she was falling apart and couldn’t hide it this time.

“Hey, it’s gonna be alright, we’re gonna find her and she’s gonna be alright,” Sam put his hand on her shoulder and squatted down in front of her, “Trust me, we can do this.”

Claire nodded her head silently and handed him her phone. It beeped again in his hands and he opened the text for both of them to see. _idk backroads near the wetlands please hurry_

Sam and Claire looked at each other with wide eyes. Urgency pulled at them both and they sprang up in opposite directions; Claire frantically throwing her things in a bag and Sam running to the war room for his laptop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean drove like a maniac. The quick, sharp turns he was taking were making Alyssa’s stomach churn. They were all so quiet. No music was on, nobody was talking or even moving. It was like a vacuum in the Impala and it was maddening. Claire nervously rubbed her hands on her jeans. A little to wipe the sweat off but mostly so she had something to do with her hands.

Dean was staring at her in the rearview mirror, “Claire, we're about an hour away. Has she said anything else?”

“No,” she pressed the button on her phone again.

“Hey. ...hey Claire, we're gonna get her, ok? We'll find her,” Dean barely took his eyes off her.

Cas grabbed her hand. She flinched at first, but let him hold it when she saw his face. She allowed herself a small smile of gratitude in his direction before checking her phone again. Nothing.

She held Cas’ hand the whole way there. She barely wanted to let go when they parked a ways away from where Sam said Alyssa's cell signal was coming from. She wiped the tears off her face with a rough gesture and joined the boys outside the car.

“...it’s coming from over there, so we’ll have to hoof it for a bit,” Sam was running down the plan in a somber tone.

“Ok, well, we gotta grab what we need now then, since we can’t come back to the car,” Dean opened the trunk and started loading his gun with witch-killing bullets.

He handed one to Cas who scrunched up his nose at it, “Dean, I don’t think I need this.”

“If you need to kill a witch without getting close, you might. Better safe than sorry,” he barely looked at Cas.

Cas, noticing his demeanor, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something inaudible into Dean’s ear. Dean said nothing but cupped Cas’ face in his hand roughly and rubbed his thumb along his cheekbone. He pulled his gaze away with difficulty and let his hand slide away. His jaw clenched as he looked into the trunk one last time before slamming it shut.


	6. Chapter 6

“Alyssa, honey, would you like some potatoes?”

Alyssa was stony-face, her chest was rising and falling rapidly as adrenaline pumped through her. She pressed her lips together, clearly not willing to speak.

“Alyssa,” the woman in red scolded, “Come now, you have to eat something, you’re our guest.”

She looked away defiantly.

“Alyssa!” the sudden scream caused her to snap her head back in the woman’s direction, “We have invited you to dinner. Into our home. Do not be rude, girl.”

Before she could respond, a young man who looked to be about Alyssa’s age swaggered in. He had a slight frame and sharp features. He flipped his blonde hair out of his eyes as he stared at her.

“So, this is her then?” he grabbed a piece of bread and pointed it at her before ripping off a piece for himself, “Doesn’t look like much,” he shoved the bread in his mouth aggressively. 

“Jonathan, please. Don’t be rude to our guest,” the woman’s voice changed to a sing-song tone, “If you’re rude, she may not do us any favors.”

“I won’t be doing you  _ any _ favors,” it was the first thing Alyssa had said since she got to the house.

She steeled her gaze at the woman who shot an icy glare her way. There was a quiet defiance between them, a testing of wills across the long dining room table.

The woman suddenly threw her head back and laughed maniacally, “Of course you will, sweetheart. As if you had any choice.” She drew up the wine karaff from the center of the table; with an elegant hand gesture, it floated lightly over to her. She poured more wine into her cup without taking her eyes off Alyssa.

Jonathan scoffed, “Mother, please, stop showing off, you’ll give yourself a nosebleed.”

“Oh, shut up, Jonathan,” she snapped back.

“What? It’s true,” he shrugged, “You’ll have to tell her eventually. How else can she help if she doesn’t know what’s going on?”

“She doesn’t need details. All she needs to do is fix Grandma and everything will go back to normal. We’ll be fine. It’s just one little favor.”

“Yeah, sure, I’m sure we’ll all be flying on brooms by tomorrow.”

The woman in red looked at Alyssa, “We don’t really do that.”

“But we could! With your help! All you need to do is use every ounce of power you have in you to heal our sick grandmother and all will be fixed! You could probably die in the process and you’ll definitely lose your powers! Just a tiny little favor! No problem! WE’RE NOT ASKING TOO MUCH NOW ARE WE?!”

Shaken by his sudden outburst, but with no less courage than before, Alyssa spoke again, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any powers. I’m not like you people. I can’t help you.”

“LIAR!” the other woman on Alyssa’s right who hadn’t spoken in some time looked at Alyssa from beneath her mop of dark curly hair with deranged eyes. 

“Excuse my sister, she’s taken her loss of powers very hard. What she means to say is, we know that you are aware of your powers. We know that you are a natural witch, from a long line of witches. Filth that they were, nonetheless, you are very powerful, whether you utilize this power or not is of no mind to me. But you will use it now.”

“Genevieve, what if she cannot?” the dark-haired woman seemed to be vibrating in her seat.

She was scared. More scared than Alyssa was now. Where was Claire? How far was she? Who knows what she’ll have to do before she gets here.

“Relax, Aggie, she can do it. I’m sure of it,” the woman in red, Genevieve as her sister called her, stared hard at Alyssa, “We’ve been watching you, sweetheart. We know.”

Alyssa’s heart began to race. She had never used her power out in public. Which could only mean they were watching her in her apartment, but how? She so rarely used her power for anything, it just didn’t seem possible that anyone else could know about it. She barely even knew about it. She didn’t even know what she was capable of. No more than drawing a pencil to her from across the room or turning off the light. Though, there were times where she had been very upset and a storm would roll in. But she thought that to be merely coincidence, up until now anyway. Her eyes darted between the two sisters rapidly, but still, she didn’t speak.

“Don’t worry about it, baby. You don’t need to know how, all you need to know is that we know. And you  _ will  _ help us. Loss of powers or loss of life.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Max!” Sam hissed in whisper, “Max!”

Max was ignoring him, creeping ahead of everyone. Alicia rolled her eyes at him. She knew, as soon as they pulled up to them and Sam started reiterating the plan, that Max wouldn’t be listening to him. He always knew better, his magic would always assist him in whatever bind he found himself in. But she knew that his recklessness would be his undoing one day, and it left her uneasy every time they went out on a hunt. Her stomach sat at the precipice of a high cliff, awaiting his fate, as she could do no more than watch him.

“It’s useless, honestly. Don’t worry though, he won’t go in without us. He knows what he’s doing,” she whispered to Sam as they both were crouched under a window.

Max moved stealthily at the front of the group, flat on the wall, he signaled the rest of them to wait behind him. Dean huffed at the direction from someone else, something he wasn’t used to.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t we going in?” Claire was peering around Dean.

Max turned and put his finger to his lips, shushing them all, “Someone is in the kitchen.”

Cas, who was behind Claire, looked at the house and the grounds before speaking, “Maybe it’s one of their servants?”

Max closed his eyes and placed a hand to the outside of the house. His body jolted slightly, “It’s a woman, she seems to be the cook. There’s also an old woman. Very old. Very sick. She’s... dying.”

“Screw it, we can get right past them. We’ll just tie ‘em up,” Dean piped up.

“No. She’s a witch. She’s weak but she still has power. I can feel it,” Alicia spoke firmly but quietly.

“Ok, so what’s the plan then?” Claire said.

“Alicia, come up here with me, together we can keep her from striking back. Dean, Claire, you get the cook. Cas, stay in the front, make sure nobody comes in the kitchen. Sam, bring up the rear,” Max waited for everyone to nod in agreement, “Let’s go,” and he turned the corner to walk up the back stairs to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Look, lady, I’m telling you, I can’t help you. My powers are minimal and basically useless. I can’t do anything big and I don’t know anything about magic,” said Alyssa.

“We have instructions, don’t worry, honey,” Genevieve replied.

Alyssa stayed quiet this time, but her fear had started to build. Her body was tense and she was shaking a little.

Jonathan looked over at her, suddenly serious, “Look, if you help us, we can let you go. We won’t bother you again.”

Genevieve spoke before Alyssa did, “Don’t make promises we can’t keep, Jonathan.”

“What do you mean? You said you needed my help for ‘one little favor’. Why can’t you just let me go?” Alyssa’s eyes were darting wildly around the table from family member to family member.

“Because…  _ if _ you live, there’s no way to know if the spell will stick. We may need to call on you again,” Aggie spoke quietly, detached, as though she was barely present enough to speak, let alone answer questions.

“No! No way! I’m not coming back here to help you again. If I leave, I leave. I won’t risk my life twice.”

“Be careful, sweetheart. If you refuse, we may have to keep your permanently,” Genevieve said.

“Like a prisoner?” said Alyssa, eyes wide, voice shaking.

“Call it whatever you want,” Genevieve responded.

She couldn’t help it, her eyes started to pool. For the first time since she got there she was starting to doubt that Claire was coming to save her. She might be stuck here as a prisoner with these asshole witches forever. Constantly being forced to fix them with powers that she didn’t even know how to use. And that was best case scenario. She could very well end up dead. And the last thing she said to Claire was to leave and not come back. She would have to die with the last image she had of Claire’s face being a resentful crumble of pain as she stared at Alyssa in disbelief. The quiet tears that rolled down her cheeks as she tried to hide them behind strands of hair that swung down as she picked up her things. One of her last images of Claire was of her back as she stopped in the doorway, gripped the frame, turned her head to the side, the slight profile of her face was stoic and hard, but her last words were not, “If you need help... with something supernatural, you have my number.” And then she left. Alyssa wanted to call after her, tell her to stop. Tell her she changed her mind, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She sat in the window and watched Claire cross the street to her car, throw her things in the back seat and sit in the driver’s seat, for what felt like forever, crying on the steering wheel. When she couldn’t watch anymore, she crawled into bed, cried until she heard Claire start the car and drive off, and then she fell asleep, tears staining her face.

The painful memories of Claire left her drained and tearful, “You can’t. You can’t keep me here.”

“Oh, honey, we’ll do whatever we have to,” Genevieve snapped her fingers, “Clara!”

Clara, the maid, came running in from the kitchen with more wine. Alyssa could see through the swinging door that the Grandma was sitting in a chair, slumped over, not moving, eyes glazed over.

“Not, now stupid girl, get the book, it’s time to show Alyssa what she’s capable of.”

Clara quickly scuttled into the kitchen, but as the door swung, she stopped dead in her tracks on the other side, out of view of Genevieve, Aggie, and Jonathan, and dropped the karaff of wine she was holding. In slow motion, with every swing of the door, Alyssa could see a group of people, a young man and a young woman holding out their hands at the grandma and Clara, freezing them in place. A man charged forward and grabbed Clara, a large tuft of frizzy blonde hair came out from behind him and assisted him. More people seemed to be moving in the background, but at the sight of the frizzy blonde hair, Alyssa’s heart froze. It was Claire. She was here, she was here to save her.

At the sound of the wine karaff crashing to the floor Genevieve rolled her eyes, “One of these days we’re gonna have to get rid of that girl. She’s worthless, honestly.” 

Genevieve got up and started to walk over to the kitchen door, “If you want something done right, I guess…”

Alyssa shouted, “I could show you what I can do now!”

Genevieve froze in place, a suspicious look on her face, “Why?”

“Just so you could see what I’m even capable of. You probably can’t even use me because my powers are too weak, unused.”

“We can wait a few days, build up your powers in the meantime. It doesn’t matter where you are now. We can work with it.”

Alyssa, seeing that she couldn’t keep Genevieve occupied for long, closed her eyes and concentrated on the wine on the floor in the kitchen. She pushed her mind to visualize the karaff coming back together, the wine with it. She saw the karaff in her mind, gliding out of the kitchen, barely pushing at the door, scraping it slowly and carefully. The karaff stopped in front of Genevieve on the dining room side of the door, waiting for her to grab it. 

Genevieve looked at Alyssa slowly, calculated, “Very good, girl. You’ll do just fine,” she reach out and grabbed the karaff. She walked back over to the table and placed it down next to her sister, her back now to the kitchen door. She looked at the karaff like it was made of pure gold, and she looked at Alyssa the same.

The moment of awe was over quickly, though, when the kitchen door busted open with a bang and the younger man that Alyssa had seen walked through, arm outstretched, freezing everyone in the dining room in place. The magic Genevieve had been using to keep Alyssa in place slipped away from her like undone ropes and she jumped up from the table, chair flying back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick progression of the story. Looks like we're headed into some action, ya'll!

Claire ran to Alyssa, gripping her arms and her face over and over again, “Are you ok? Did they hurt you?”

Alyssa was shaking, “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m… fine,” she shook her head again and again.

Sam, Dean, and Cas started tying the sisters and Jonathan to chairs. And eventually Max released them from his hold. Alicia was still holding the old woman in place while Max kept his hands at the ready. 

“What were you freaks trying to do?” Dean spat at them.

Only Genevieve spoke, “We need her to save my mother. Without my mother, our powers will weaken and eventually… they’ll burn out. The more Brennus’ that are alive the stronger our magic is. All that’s left of our family is my sister Agatha, my son Jonathan, my mother, and myself. We can’t live like regular people; we’ve relied on magic for far too long.”

“So, you weren’t even going to be powerless? You just had limited power and you wanted to risk my life for that?” Alyssa started to move forward aggressively but Claire caught her arm. She silently shook her head at her. 

“Look, ultimately our powers would be gone completely and my mother couldn’t live with that. Either could Auntie Aggie. I was against this whole thing from the beginning. We could just be normal, but no, mother insists that we ‘must remain powerful’,” Jonathan looked defeated and annoyed.

“Jonathan, we must fix this. We must. You know that,” Genevieve was no longer paying any attention to the group of intruders. Her gaze was laser-focused on Jonathan, as though they were the only two people in the room. Her pleading eyes were brimming with tears.

“If they come for us, then they come for us. Let them. We’ve lived long enough,” Jonathan spoke with a strain on his smooth voice. 

“Jonathan, please. You don’t know what they would do to us. You don’t know them like I do,” she sobbed, tears staining her flushed cheeks.

“Who are you talking about?” Alyssa was eyeing them suspiciously.

It was clear that this family was in pain, she could feel it. She slowly walked over to Genevieve, place her hand lightly on her forehead and both women jolted for a second. Alyssa staggered back as though she had been slapped across the face. Tears fell from her eyes freely and she stared at Genevieve in disbelief. Both women were shaking now, crying silently.

“Now you know, child,” Genevieve spoke quietly, “Now you know.”

“What happened? What was it?” Claire ran to Alyssa’s side and propped her up. 

Alyssa leaned on her, tears still falling, legs weak, barely able to get the words out, “I… she… they… they’re coming for them.”

“Who’s coming?” Castiel stepped forward demandingly.

“The Robicheaux’s,” Aggie croaked out. Her voice was hoarse and shaky. Like the name had to be painstakingly pulled from her lips.

“Who the fuck are they?” Dean looked at Castiel, then at the twins.

They had their mouths open, faces pallid.

“They’re not even in the country,” Alicia said cautiously. 

“Oh, yes they are. And they are coming, believe you, me,” Genevieve shook as she spoke. Her cold and collected exterior stripped away, all that was left was a frail little girl.

“We have to help them,” Alyssa was standing on her own two feet now, a new strength in her voice, “We have to. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Are you crazy?! They kidnapped you?! They kidnapped you and they were willing to kill you!” Claire spat out.

“I know, but now that there are more witches here, we might be able to do something together. You know, something that could save us all,” she looked into Claire’s eyes and Claire knew that she couldn’t fight her on it.

“Ughghgh--fine! Just. Fine. Don’t get killed, ok?” she reached out to Alyssa and tugged on her dress, pulling her closer. Her fist was balled up in the fabric and Alyssa smiled knowingly. 

“Thank you,” she whispered to Claire.

“Yeah, yeah, thank me when you’re not dead,” she rolled her eyes.

“That’s sweet and all, honey, but the Robicheaux’s are not the kinda family you should be messing with. They’re dangerous, dark magic, old magic. Even if we could, I don’t think we should,” Max spoke with unease.

“You didn’t see what I saw. We can’t just let these people die like that. They’re desperate,” Alyssa said to Max.

“I know that, and I believe it, but Alyssa… they could come for us,” at this Alicia walked over to Max and put a hand on his shoulder. The two looked at each other and even though no words were spoken between them, they had reached an understanding, an agreement.

“Yeah, ok, what’s our first move?” Max’s voice was heavy and determined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next 20 minutes or so was spent pouring over books and Googling on their phones. Max and Alicia grabbed a few books from their car that they thought might help. Everyone was suddenly working together. The air in the room was was different. It was a race against time with an unlikely group but nobody questioned it. The looks of fear on all the witches faces was enough to make them understand.

Except for Claire. 

“What did you see?” Claire demanded. Her eyes were dark and her lips were pursed.

She had dragged Alyssa off into the hallway outside of the dining room. The porchlight fell in through the glass panes of the door on Claire’s face, casting a shadow over it. The hallway was dark, unlit, and musty. Alyssa was refusing to meet Claire’s eyes. Instead, she was studying the paintings on the walls, the antique sconces, the dated runner on the floor.

Claire grabbed her chin and forced her to face her, “Talk to me,” she pleaded. 

Alyssa slowly pulled her face from Claire’s grasp. Her eyes never left the front door, “The family that’s after them…” she took a deep, shaking breath, “they’ve done things, horrible things. They torture witch families, steal their magic. The Brennus are not the first and they won’t be the last if we don’t stop them.”  
Claire pulled away from her, rolling her eyes and huffing.

Before she could say anything Alyssa spoke up, “Claire, please, these people are evil. I don’t forgive the Brennus for kidnapping me but I can’t pretend that I wouldn’t have done the same thing. If the Robicheaux’s were after me… I would do whatever it took to stop them from hurting me and my family.”

Claire looked at her, earnestness in her eyes, “Why didn’t you tell me you had powers?”

“I didn’t really know. A little, I guess, I thought these things were coincidences. The little I knew that I could do and could control, flicking off light switches, stuff like that, I thought that made me a freak. To be honest, I didn’t even know that other people like me existed until I met you. And then… well, you didn’t have the greatest things to say about other witches.”

“All witches are different, I told you that.”

“But you didn’t tell me they could be ‘good’, you know? You just said they could be harmless or useful.”

“Ok, well, had I known about you, maybe I would’ve been more clear.”

“You can’t blame me for not wanting to tell you. You don’t know what it’s like to have this power, to feel like a freak your whole life.”

“Hey,” Claire walked over to Alyssa and picked up her hand, “Hey, it’s gonna be ok. You’re not a freak. I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”

Alyssa looked up, tears pooled in her eyes, “Will you help me help these people?”

Claire laughed, “That’s a little manipulative, don’t you think?”

Alyssa smiled, “I’m just asking a question.”

“Ok. But just… just hang back a little, ok? I don’t want you to get hurt, I just found you again.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I know.”


End file.
